A Long Island fisherman was sentenced to 30 months in prison and two years of supervised release for his involvement in a fisheries fraud conspiracy linked to his tenure as captain of the trawler New Age from 2014 to 2017. Christopher Winkler, from Montauk, was convicted by a jury in October 2023 on charges including one count of federal criminal conspiracy, two counts of mail fraud, and two counts of obstruction of justice.
Winkler conducted at least 200 fishing trips targeting summer flounder (fluke) and black sea bass, harvesting these fish beyond quotas and state trip limits. He also falsified Fishing Vessel Trip Reports for these excursions.
In a related case, Bryan and Asa Gosman, along with their partially owned company Bob Gossman Co. Inc., pleaded guilty for their roles in the conspiracy. The overharvesting amounted to approximately 200,000 pounds of fluke and black sea bass, with an estimated wholesale value of $750,000.
The announcement was made by Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and Assistant Director Michael Henry of NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement, Northeast Division.
NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement investigated the case under Operation One-Way Chandelier. Prosecutors Christopher L. Hale and Kenneth Nelson from the Environment and Natural Resources Division’s Environmental Crimes Section handled the case with support from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.